


Throwing Flowers

by skim_milk



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Engagement, Established Relationship, Flowers, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Minor Aang/Katara, Wedding Fluff, Weddings, Wing Woman, bouquet throwing, katara is the best sister, no beta we die like jet, no beta we die like men, weddings bring out the best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27394921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skim_milk/pseuds/skim_milk
Summary: In which Zuko learns about the tradition of throwing bouquets at weddings.(And Katara and Suki are the best wing-women.)
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 20
Kudos: 162





	Throwing Flowers

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Wedding](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27089422) by [Onmyliteraturebullshitagain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onmyliteraturebullshitagain/pseuds/Onmyliteraturebullshitagain). 



> Just letting y'all know that this is the first ATLA fic that I'm posting and I've been apart of the fandom for like a month, so if there are any inconsistencies, I apologise. 
> 
> Thank you xxx

Zuko had been to several weddings in his lifetime, and while each was different, in truth, they all felt the same to him. They were just an excuse to throw a massive party, for people to excessively drink, to show off how many tiers of cake they could afford, for cousins of the bride or groom to make a fool of themselves. 

It was Katara and Aang’s wedding, however, was not that. And it would remain forever etched into his memory as one of the first weddings he had actually enjoyed. 

He had been invited as the plus one of the best man (and brother of the bride of course) rather than being invited as the Fire Lord — of course, he had also been invited as he was one of Aang’s groomsmen, yet he loved to claim that he was there as Sokka’s plus one.

The wedding had been a beautiful blend of Southern Water Tribe traditions mixed with Air Nomadic customs, a tribute to how Katara and Aang’s lives were inextricably linked to one another. And, as was everything Katara did, the wedding was perfect, and Zuko was sure that the girl had been such a formidable force in preparation of the event — a bridezilla if ever did one exist. From the archway made of intricately bended ice at the end of the aisle to the ornate glasses of plum wine that were handed out during the reception, the night went by smoothly (or at least it had from Zuko’s perspective). 

The night was pleasant, and Zuko spent the night chatting amicably with Kanna (or Gran Gran as she insisted he call her) over how beautiful the ceremony had been, dancing with Sokka when slow songs played, and trying to prevent Toph from pulling her hair out of the delicate braided style Suki had put it in. 

Of course, Aang being the Avatar meant that every man and his polar bear dog had wanted to attend but the event was strictly invite-only and those that were invited were family and the friends that they had made on their travels (so really, there was a lot of people because Aang loved to make friends). 

So yes, Zuko had gone to weddings in the past, but he had never really participated in them. Never felt the emotions firsthand, had never seen the love radiating off of two people like he could with the two newlyweds. Nor had he ever been pushed into the middle of a bunch of excited and screaming young women like Suki did to him. 

“Come on,” she laughed as she pulled his wrist. “Stop being so stuck up for once!”

“I am not stuck up!” Zuko cried in his defence — he knew how to have fun when he wanted to. “I just don’t understand this tradition.”

Suki giggled and shook her head. “The idea is that when Katara throws the bouquet, whoever catches it will be the next one to get married.” 

Zuko felt an eyebrow raise in confusion. “So magic flowers determine your luck in love?” He recalled the image of Katara’s bouquet, the blues and muted yellows and whites, colours that normally wouldn’t be seen together but somehow worked well for the wedding’s colour scheme. It almost seemed like a shame to throw flowers that beautiful. 

“No silly,” Suki giggled some more, clearly having indulged in one too many glasses of plum wine. “They’re not magic, and it doesn’t mean that it’ll happen — it’s just fun to do!”

“Oh,” Zuko was almost relieved, and yet a little disheartened at the same time. While he and Sokka had been seeing each other for nearly three years, he would hate to feel like he had pressured Sokka into marriage all because he caught a bunch of flowers. And yet, another part of him screamed to catch them and hurry up and marry the water tribe boy before he got a better offer. 

He gave a quick glance to Sokka who gave him that signature grin and a flirty wink and Zuko wondered if it was just Suki who had indulged in a little too much wine. 

And so, Zuko allowed Suki to drag him into the group of women and girls — taking note that he was the only male, yet secure enough in his masculinity that it didn’t bother him that much. 

At first, the others had given the Fire Lord a wide berth, but as Katara turned her back to the group and raised the bouquet into the air a few times, as though winding up to toss it over her head, all previous misgivings were forgotten and Zuko was nearly crushed in the fray. 

Katara gave a final heave before she turned around, the flowers still in her hand leaving everyone muttering in confusion. Zuko cast Suki a glance beside him and she smirked knowingly but refused to look him in the eye. Katara, however, started walking towards the group and when she met his eyes, she didn’t drop her gaze. 

The crowd of young women seemed to part as Katara walked through them and they all turned to look at him as the bride passed them. 

It seemed as though he was the last one to know what was happening and it wasn’t until Katara stopped a few feet in front of him that he started to suspect that something was up. After all, this was not how the tradition had played out in any of the previous weddings he had been to — or perhaps he just hadn’t been paying enough attention. 

Katara smiled at him as she tossed the bouquet the last few feet between them and into Zuko’s hands. “Oh,” he breathed out as he looked down at the flowers in his hands and then back up to meet Katara’s eyes. 

Wordlessly, she stepped closer to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, gently turning him around until he was facing the opposite direction. 

Until he was facing Sokka. 

Who was poised on one knee. 

An open box in his hands. 

A necklace with a hand-carved charm sitting proudly in the centre. 

“Oh,” and suddenly he felt like he couldn’t breathe, that if he dared to breathe then he would ruin the moment, that Sokka would stand up and put the box away. That releasing a single breath would break the veil of whatever convoluted daydream he must be having.

Sokka’s blue eyes became misty as he started to speak “Zuko, ever since—” 

“Yes,” Zuko cut him off, finally breathing, taking relief when the moment didn’t shift. The beating in his chest enough to convince him that this was real life.

“Wait, you’re not gonna let me finish?” Sokka cries indignantly. “Do you know how hard I worked to figure out what to say?” 

Zuko flushed red. “Sorry?”

Sokka chuckled, rising to his full height and taking one of Zuko’s hands as the other currently held the flowers Katara had thrown him. “That’s okay, I could never be mad with you.” 

And then Sokka leant in, brushing his lips against Zuko’s and Zuko felt like it was their first kiss all over again. Soft and gentle, warm and sweet. Sokka’s lips tasting faintly of wine and Zuko was intoxicated by them. He dropped Sokka’s hand and threw his arms around his new fiancé’s neck, bouquet still in hand. Sokka’s own hand found its place on Zuko’s waist, holding him tenderly as they kissed one another. His other hand, still holding the betrothal necklace, was brought around behind Zuko, Sokka’s forearm pressing against the small of Zuko’s back and pulling him closer while the two shared their tender embrace. 

It took several moments for them to register the cheers taking place around them, and several more moments atop of that to pull apart, even if it was only due to the need to breathe. Their arms still wrapped around one another, foreheads pressed together, smiles plastered onto their faces. 

“I love you,” Sokka whispered to Zuko, placing a short and soft kiss upon his nose. 

“I love you more,” Zuko whispered back. He had never known it was possible to feel such a way about a single person until he felt it now, felt it first hand. And he knew, his love for Sokka could only grow. 

Needless to say, Zuko’s experiences with weddings from there on out were a lot different. 

**Author's Note:**

> 1) yes, Katara and Suki were in on it. Do you really think Sokka would have had the guts to do that if those two didn't give him a pep talk beforehand?
> 
> 2) I used a betrothal necklace because the idea of Sokka making one for Zuko and Zuko wearing it just really warms my cold dead heart. 
> 
> 3) This is inspired by Onmyliteraturebullshitagain's "The Wedding", which I was reading and was like "hey, how cute would it be if Zuko caught the bouquet?" and then the idea was bouncing around in my brain for like a day or two until it finally hit a corner like that damn sony logo and I was like "stuff it" and I wrote this because why not? (Please check out "The Wedding". Its super cute and I love it.)
> 
> 4) I wrote this in like an hour and a half on my phone and then hastily edited it the next day. 
> 
> 5) This is technically my first ATLA fic (I've been writing another but it's not ready to post yet) so if I've got anything wrong let me know so I can learn from it, please and thank you x
> 
> Thank you for reading this, hope you enjoyed xxx


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